II. 1. Our army (werod) was in two divisions: one was large, the other was small. 2. The richest men in the kingdom have more (mā) than thirty ships. 3. He was much wiser than his brother. 4. He fights against the Northumbrians with two ships. 5. After three years King Alfred gained the victory. 6. Whosoever chooses these gifts, chooses well. 7. This man’s son is both wiser and better than his father. 8. When the king rides, then ride his thanes also. 9. The richest men are not always (ā) the wisest men.
[1.] This is really a double superlative, m being itself an old superlative suffix. Cf. Latin opti-m-us. In Mn.E. northmost and hindmost, -m-est has been confused with -most, with which etymologically it has nothing to do.
[2.] Sige usually, but not invariably, precedes habban.
[3.] See p. 100, [note on gefeaht].
[4.] The proper noun comes first in appositive expressions: Ælfred cyning, Sidroc eorl, Hēahmund bisceop.
[ CHAPTER XVIII.]
Strong Verbs: Class I. (See [§ 17].)
Syntax of Moods.
[101.]
Of the three hundred simple verbs belonging to the O.E. Strong Conjugation, it is estimated[1] that seventy-eight have preserved their strong inflections in Mn.E., that eighty-eight have become weak, and that the remaining one hundred and thirty-four have entirely disappeared, their places being taken in most cases by verbs of Latin origin introduced through the Norman-French.